Municipality Kozje

The municipality is geographically marked by hilly area in the eastern part of Slovenia. Almost the entire area of the municipality is part of the Kozjansko regional park where natural and cultural heritage is being preserved.

Municipality Kozje, which is part of the Savinjska statistical region, measures 90 km2; this ranks it 80th among Slovene municipalities.

Statistical data for 2008 reveal the following:

At the end of 2008 about 3,200 people (about 1,600 men and 1,600 women) were living in the municipality, which ranks Kozje 146th among Slovene municipalities. The population density was 36 people per square kilometre, which was lower than the national average of 100 people per square kilometre.

The number of live births was lower than the number of deaths, which means that natural increase per 1,000 population in the municipality was negative. It was -2.7 (in Slovenia 1.7). The number of people who moved from the municipality was higher than the number of people who moved into the municipality, so net migration per 1,000 population in the municipality was negative. It was -7.6. The sum of natural increase and net migration per 1,000 population in the municipality was negative. It was -10.4 (in Slovenia 10.9).

The mean age of people in Kozje was 41.9 years, which was higher than the national average (41.3 years).

As in most Slovene municipalities, in Kozje the number of old people was higher than the number of young people: there were 127 people, aged 65 or more, per 100 people aged 0–14. This ratio shows that the value of the ageing index was higher than the national average of 118. It also shows that the mean age of people in Kozje is growing more rapidly than in Slovenia as a whole. Data by sex show that the ageing index for women was in all Slovene municipalities higher than the ageing index for men. In Kozje – as in most Slovene municipalities – more women were 65+ years old than 14 or less; for men the situation was exactly the opposite.

Kozje had 1 kindergarten. It was attended by 74 children. Of all children aged 1–5, 62% were included in kindergartens, which was less than the national average of 70%. In the school year 2008/09 elementary schools in Kozje were attended by about 260 pupils. About 160 pupils from the municipality attended various secondary schools. There were 60 students and 7 graduates per 1,000 people in the municipality; in Slovenia the averages were 55 per 1,000 and 8 per 1,000, respectively.

Among people aged 15–64 (i.e. working age population) about 60% were persons in employment (i.e. persons in paid employment or self-employed persons), which is less than the national average of 62%.

The registered unemployment rate was 13.0%, which is more than the national average (6.7%). As in most Slovene municipalities, more women than men were unemployed.

In Kozje, average monthly gross earnings per person employed by legal persons were about 13% lower than the annual average of monthly earnings for Slovenia; and net earnings about 11% lower.

Every 18th person in the municipality was receiving at least one financial social assistance. In Slovenia as a whole every 28th person received at least one financial social assistance.

The value of gross investment in new fixed assets in the municipality (EUR 198 per capita) was lower than the national average (EUR 3,165 EUR per capita).

In 2008, there were 432 dwellings per 1,000 population. About 59% of dwellings had at least three rooms. Average size of dwellings in the municipality was 75 m2.

Every other person in Kozje had a car (50 passenger cars per 100 population); cars in this municipality were on average 9 years old.

In 2008, 303 kg of municipal waste per person was collected in Kozje, which is 116 kg less than on average in Slovenia.